Meaning & Origins

Transferred use of the surname, which originated in the Middle Ages as either a patronymic from Neil or a metronymic from Nell. Use as a given name probably began as a tribute to the British admiral Lord Nelson (1758–1805), the victor of the Battle of Trafalgar; see also Horatio. It is, however, now much more common in the United States than in Britain, its popularity there in the 1930s and 40s no doubt having been influenced by the American film actor and singer Nelson Eddy (1901–67). Nowadays the name is universally associated with the South African statesman Nelson Mandela (b. 1918).

English: occupational name for a worker in metal, from Middle English smith (Old English smið, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Metalworking was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents were perhaps the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is the most frequent of all American surnames; it has also absorbed, by assimilation and translation, cognates and equivalents from many other languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).